Presto

I didn't do my research. Had I come to IMDb before seeing Wall-E, I would have known that we would be seeing Presto. It's a great Looney Tunes style short that pits a rabbit against his magician, all for a carrot. It actually had me laughing. Not just chuckling, but laughing and since you can't see the original Looney Tunes I used to love, it was a refreshing change to have a short cartoon do that for me. I'd almost forgotten what it was like. The animation is much better than the old favourites, but not quite as detailed as something like Shrek or even Wall-E itself. They keep it simple and light on its feet. Works perfectly in my opinion. I would gladly sit through Presto again if I went to see Wall-E a second time.

For the theatrical release of 'WALL•E (2008),' Pixar Studios continues that lovely time-honoured tradition of preceding the main feature with an amusing animated short. Not only that, but they've developed one of their best, second only to the mini-masterpiece that is 'Geri's Game (1997).' A hilarious throw-back to the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons – such that we can almost envision Bugs in a starring role – 'Presto (2008)' concerns itself with the art of magic. When an uptight stage magician, Presto DiGiotagione, neglects to feed his hungry rabbit, Alec Azam, the malnourished pet mischievously decides to exact revenge on his owner, with the help of two magic hats and no shortage of dangerous backstage implements. Each time Presto attempts to pull the rabbit from his top hat, his hand emerges clutching all sorts of painful contraptions, from mouse traps to live electrical wires to an entire ladder. His performance already in tatters, the red-faced magician tries even harder to convince the rabbit to cooperate, his every action only making matters worse.

'Presto' was directed by Doug Sweetland, a long-serving animator at Pixar, in his directorial debut. Entirely wordless, as most of Pixar's shorts are, the film relies on terrific visuals and sound effects to provide the humour, though this effort is notably less reliant on sound effects than the previous 'Lifted (2006)' {which, appropriately, was directed by sound effects whiz Gary Rydstrom}. Working with a simple scenario, 'Presto' begins with relatively minor sight gags, gradually upping the ante until all hell breaks loose on-stage, and the hapless magician finds himself strung high above the ground. Obviously, the audience finds all this utterly magnificent, and Presto – however battered and bruised – is only too happy to accept this gracious applause. Some may find all this to be rather mean-spirited, but certainly no more so than Bugs Bunny when he got Elmer Fudd in his sights, and children will definitely find the rabbit's hilarious antics to be uproariously entertaining. This is a delicious cinematic appetiser from the best in the business.

wildly entertaining. very cute. and very exciting. all with no dialogue.

the quick story is really clever too.

again, a very very funny short film. kids will love it, and so will adults, and so will you.

it will win an Oscar. you'll see.

gotta love Disney and pixar. they always provide. and keep getting better. Presto really upped the scale for future DP short films.

i thought that presto was just the perfect appetizer for Wall E. it really gets you in the mood to laugh at the very charlie chaplin humor.

Unusually for a Pixar short, Presto is a rather fast and frenetic cartoon.

A magician is preparing for his stage show and has a nice juicy carrot for his rabbit.

The rabbit is salivating but the magician is just teasing him with it. The hungry rabbit causes chaos with the show especially with the magic hats.

Inadvertently with all the bedlam and the magician getting injured with the tricks going wrong, the show wows the audience.

Pixar shorts have long established themselves as not only gorgeous eye candy and funny but also clever and intelligent. I have always found it incredible how short films (whether they are animated or not) seek to tell a story in a short space of time. The very best do so in such a way that you have become connected with what you watch. In this sense I find short films to be much more remarkable than full length features as the most poignant of them have to overcome the limited time slot allocated to them. And Presto does just that. How can a magician and a little rabbit cause so much hilarity and mayhem in just a few minutes while also making you actually care for both characters? It is beyond me but that's what Pixar delivers. Presto lends homage to many of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons and is a roller coaster ride of enjoyment for both young and old. Following on from the equally magnificent "Lifted", "Bounding" and "One Man Band", Pixar has cemented themselves as not only the masters of creative story telling on the feature-length screen but also the short-length one. Combine that with the ever amazing (and now taken for granted) techniques used in their animation and you have an animated package that you will want to watch over and over again. Bugs would be so proud...